Mother and Father
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Splinter is both mother and father to his sons. Turtle Tots!


Title: "Mother and Father"  
Author: Kat Lee  
Dedicated To: My beloved Mom - I love you; Happy Mother's Day!  
Rating: G/K  
Summary: Splinter is both mother and father to his sons. Turtle Tots!  
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, names, codenames, places, items, fandoms, titles, and etc. are always © & TM their respective owners, not the author, and are used without permission. Any and all original characters and everything else is © & TM the author and may not be reproduced in any way without the author's express, written permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

"You're stupid," Raphael snarled, glaring at the handmade card Michelangelo held in a quivering, tiny hand. "Stupid card, stupid day, stupid brother!"

"I don't think he's stupid," Donatello spoke, coming up to his brothers.

"Shows what you know," Raph retorted.

"He is a genius," Leonardo pointed out, "and I agree, Raphael." The blue-banded Turtle placed a comforting hand on his youngest brother's slightly trembling shell. "Don't let him get to you, Mikey," he spoke softly. "He's just angry, because we don't have a mother."

Raphael made a face and folded his arms before his plastron. "Am not."

"Are too," Leo spoke determinedly.

"It doesn't matter," Mikey said sadly, his voice still shaking. He tried again to fight down the tears brimming in his eyes. "We don't need a mama."

"It would be nice to have one, though," Donatello added wistfully, tears also shining in his dark eyes. He twisted a torn, raggedy notebook in his green hands as he also fought to keep from crying. "She could tell us bedtime stories and . . . "

"Masser Spliner already does that," Mikey said.

"She could sing to us, too."

Mikey fell silent; his eyes dropped to the card he clutched. Donatello had a point there: He couldn't remember their cherished Sensei ever singing to them. He had imagined what it would be like to really have a mother, as he could tell his super intelligent brother had also done. He loved Splinter with all of his heart, but a mother's touch would be gentler. It would be soft and feminine and . . . A tear slipped down his beak.

Leonardo hugged him. "Mikey's right," he said. "A mom might be nice, but we don't need one. Master Splinter is all we need. He's both mother and father to us."

"And Sensei," Raphael shot back with a roll of his eyes. "He never plays with us. All he ever wants us to do is train, train, train."

Leonardo released Michelangelo and whirled on his brother who was always so full of anger. "That's because he cares about us!" he exclaimed defiantly, staring Raphael down.

"A mother would play with us."

"I . . . " Mikey's voice still trembled. He swiped at his tears as Donatello came up and hugged him from behind while still not releasing his notebook. "I thought you said you didn't wanna mother."

"I said I didn't need a mother," Raphael retorted fiercely, his dark eyes glowering at all three of his simpering brothers. "I don't need one, and I don't need Splinter, and I don't need any of you!"

Leonardo looked squarely into his eyes, his own jaw setting with determined defiance. "Liar!"

Mikey quickly caught onto that. "Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!"

Raphael again rolled his eyes. "Great going, Leo. Now you've really got him started. I swear, if I have to listen to that all day - "

He stopped in mid-sentence as a gentle voice suddenly cleared. It was a very quiet sound, barely audible, and yet all four brothers knew well that it could cut through the most heated of arguments and the strongest, most ferocious yells as easily as a knife sliding through butter. "My sons," Splinter queried, his long, wiry tail swishing as his steady gaze took in each young, troubled face in turn, "what is the meaning of all of this?"

"I - "

"Don't you dare!" Raphael growled in a low whisper meant to warn of danger, but Mikey ignored him and went straight away to his beloved Sensei. "I wanted to give you this card, Sensei, but Raphael thought it was stupid."

Splinter graciously took the card and eased out its creases caused by Mikey's anxious and as yet mostly unskilled hands. His tail's swishes slowed as he read the scrawled handwriting. He smiled fondly though his brown eyes misted.

"It's not stupid," Leonardo said again, glowering at Raphael who glared back at him and showed his teeth in warning. Leo chose to ignore his fierce brother and turned his gaze instead to their father. He walked closer to Splinter and Mikey as he added, "You are our parent, Sensei. You're the closest thing to a mom we'll ever have."

For the first time in his life with his sons, Splinter allowed tears to visibly come to his eyes, but still, he would not allow a single one to fall. He also did not reach to wipe them away. He just allowed them to mist his eyes to show his little ones how touched he genuinely was, and then he beamed first at Michelangelo, then at Leonardo, and then back again to his little Mikey. "This is beautiful, Michelangelo. Thank you!"

His old bones were nearly overcome as the tiny, chubby turtle plowed into his spindly legs. He quickly resumed his balance, wrapped his arms around Mikey's little body, and returned his tight hug. "I love you, Sensei!" Mikey gushed. "It doesn't matter if you're Daddy or Mommy or just Sensei! I love you!"

"And I love you, too, Michelangelo!" Splinter's head raised; his gaze encompassed all four of his adopted children. "I love you all!"

Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo all glowed with their happiness; even Raphael seemed a little less angry now. "We know, Master Splinter," Leonardo answered humbly, "and we love you too!"

Donatello gently cleared his throat. "Sensei?"

"Yes, Donatello?" The old rat looked kindly upon his smartest son.

"I have something for you, too." He wouldn't admit that he had been working on the book as a Father's Day present. He'd come up with another gift for that holiday, but he wasn't about to let Mikey be the only one to give their parent a present on Mother's Day. He couldn't think of a better way to celebrate this special holiday set aside for mothers, after all, than to bestow love and gifts upon the one person who loved and cared for them more than himself and who surely worked far harder than any other mother or father in all of history to keep them safe and make sure they were well cared for and knew they were loved as well.

Keeping one arm around Michelangelo, Splinter reached out to Donnie with his other hand. "I would love to see it."

Donatello walked forward with a certain pride in his grin and shining eyes, but when he reached him, he was far shyer about actually handing over his present. It was, after all, just a raggedy, old notebook that Sensei had found in a puddle of sludge in the sewer, but he had dried it out before giving it to him and Donnie had filled it with poetry all about his father, his bond with their family, how he cared for them all, often times making great sacrifices to make them happy or keep them safe, and how much Donnie loved him. Donatello knew his poetry was nowhere near a Shakespearean level, but he had gone through shaving many pencils with Leonardo's katanas to write the poems and had put a great deal of thought into each one.

Splinter took the notebook and opened it. Slowly, as Donnie stood before him, running his bare feet through the muck of the sewer, Splinter flipped through the yellow pages, reading what his son had written. At last, he shut the book and beamed joyously upon Donnie. His long tail whisked with his happiness. "You are going to be a wonderful writer, Donatello. I will treasure both of these gifts forever, my sons!"

"Really?" Mikey asked. It was his turn to be shy now while Donatello beamed with happiness and pride.

"Yes!" Splinter enthused. He pulled Donatello to him and hugged them both tightly.

Leonardo stepped closer. "I . . . I'm sorry I don't have a present to give you, Master Splinter, but I hope you have a happy Mother's Day any way."

Splinter pulled him into the hug. "My children, you make every day a joyful occasion! I could have a thousand presents, and none of them could compare to the gift you've all already given me."

"What's that?" Raphael was still grumpy but couldn't hide his curiosity.

Splinter took a few steps forward with the three sons he was already holding, and then, knowing Raphael would evade him if he stepped any closer, slightly changed his direction. His tail whipped out, caught the small turtle around the middle of his shell, and pulled him to him despite his feet digging into sewage. "Your love," Splinter said proudly.

Raphael finally relented, all of his anger releasing from him and being replaced by the joy that his father's love granted him, as Splinter hugged all four of his boys. Mikey giggled hysterically as Raphael caved, "Happy Mother's Day!"

Raph kicked him.

"Ow!" Mikey stuck out his tongue. "I told you he was the best mother we could ever have!"

Splinter sighed, and then he laughed and hugged his boys again.

"You two behave," Leonardo commanded his brothers, "or I'll take Donnie's staff to you both! Master Splinter doesn't need you misbehaving today!" He hugged his father again and, in so doing, also hugged Mikey and Donnie. "Happy Mother's Day, Master Splinter! We love you!"

Splinter continued to glow with the happiness his children gave him. His arms and tail wrapped snugly around them. "Thank you, my sons; I love you, too!"

**The End**


End file.
